PC malfunctioned following a crash.
PC malfunctioned following a crash.
About a year ago I assembled my first computer. It performed perfectly from the start. There were no crashes, the components functioned properly even with XMP enabled, everything was working smoothly. If it counts, I own an RX 7900XT paired with a Ryzen 7 7700x and run Windows 11. Now, while downloading a game from Steam, my PC stalled briefly when I opened Chrome. My screen went dark and all fans accelerated to maximum. I had to power off the machine. After restarting, performance was extremely poor—my cursor moved slowly, apps didn’t open quickly, and scrolling in Chrome was sluggish. When I tried a game, I received an error: "GLFW error 65542: WGL: The driver does not seem to support OpenGL." I looked it up online and realized my GPU drivers might be corrupted, likely due to the previous crash. I reinstalled them using DDU for a fresh setup and restarted the PC. At that moment, the system was completely unresponsive; nothing reacted. I attempted to shut it down via the power button, but it wouldn’t work either, so I unplugged it from the outlet. This is where I’m at now. I’m wondering if my software got damaged or if a virus infected the machine—I have no idea. What should I do next? I’m considering a full Windows reinstall, though I’d prefer not to spend too much time on it.
Absolutely, I've gone through a fresh install of Windows. Updated on Jan 9 by leclod.
I've experienced similar issues with Windows and AMD drivers. An update from Windows overwrote the AMD driver, making the GPU unrecognized and resetting all screen settings back to defaults. Disable driver updates in Windows Update, then use Device Manager to remove the GPU, restart your PC, and reinstall the AMD driver package. You might also test with the integrated graphics on the 7700X to confirm functionality.
I disabled the auto-install driver option in the AMD Adrenalin app, but I didn’t verify the Windows version. It’s possible Windows altered my drivers, which might have triggered a crash when I used Chrome.
To repair Windows without a full reinstall after a crash (works about 90% of the time), follow these steps:
1. Launch Command Prompt with admin privileges (find it in the Start menu, right-click and choose "Run as administrator").
2. Execute: sfc /scannow
3. Allow the process to complete verifying all Windows files against backups.
4. After finishing, restart your computer.
5. Repeat steps 1–4 whenever needed, as it may uncover more issues.
6. Once restarted twice, Windows should be fixed!
I never experienced any issues with that task. Also verify your hard drives for problems using chkdsk and fix them. Perform this action from "My Computer," right-click the disk, choose properties, navigate to the tools tab, and execute a scan. If either drive shows irreparable errors or contains bad sectors, think about swapping it out as soon as possible since failure can happen unexpectedly—though data loss might take days or years. However, replacing it now could save you money, as recovery services typically cost around $500. If you’re unable to afford a new drive or prefer not to buy one yet, here’s a proven method for data recovery (I’ve used this multiple times and it works):
1) Place the hard drive inside a plastic ziplock bag and freeze it for 24 to 48 hours.
2) Use a hard drive dock (if available) or unplug the SATA data and power cables from your PC so they’re outside the case—prepare your computer.
3) Insert the drive into the extended cables, avoiding direct insertion into the PC to prevent moisture damage.
4) Wait a few minutes to an hour for the drive to stabilize, then transfer files to another drive. When the operating system freezes again, return it to the freezer for another 24 to 48 hours, and continue extracting files while freezing or attempting transfers.
The reasoning behind this approach is that overheating often causes hard drives to fail. Freezing slows the process, giving more time before a crash occurs.